Monday, 25 February 2008

"The fact that such an influential programme as ‘The Tube’ was focusing on the emerging dance music scene in Britain five years before the big bang of Acid House, provides a perfect illustration of just how much this crucial period in the evolution of UK dance culture has been, at best, obscured, whilst regrettably for anyone wishing to unearth its true roots, at worst, totally ignored."

Click here for a detailed write-up on the appearance from Greg's own site.

Saturday, 16 February 2008

This is what Phoncia Records had to say "Limited promos of 'Diary Of An Afro Warrior, one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year. If Burial’s ‘Untrue’ dominated 2007’s end of year critics charts then it’s odds on ‘Diary Of An Afro Warrior’ will do the same in 2008. Dubstep’s trickle into the mainstream has been steady; Skream and Burial alike have nudged the door open. Benga is undoubtedly the force to smash it through and take Dubstep to another level. ‘Night’, the anthemic underground smash single lifted from the album has literally had ravers from countless club scenes, DJs and grandparents whistling and humming its infectious melody for months now with Gilles Peterson declaring it as his No1 track of 2007!!"

This album is truly awesome.....after buying Scream's album back in 2006...I've only been dipping into this genre of music now and then, however with this album and in particular the 'Night' track, which has crossed over into many different styles of DJ sets.....Benga's album sounds is a real fixture for 2008.

I've recently had Theo's album Sound Sculpture Vol.1 on constant rotation on my iPOD and record player at home. I bought this album (3x12 Vinyl) last year and it wasn't until recently as I was listening to Gilles Peterson's 2007 All-Winners show, which voted this album....Best Album of the Year....that I thought to myself.....I never really got deep into that album.......

AND NOW I HAVE...... and all I can say is its amazing, go and seek....

"Nowadays, honesty is at an all-time low," says Theo in this short film documenting the producer gathering sounds around Detroit. "Everything is more style over substance, everything is more look over feel." Brought to you by, uh, Adidas

Ninjatune Website says......"After a year-long, worldwide run of ALBUM LAUNCH DJ PARTIES in support of "Your Mom's Favorite DJ", Kid Koala has been invited to join the Hard Sell Tour on eighteen dates throughout North America followed by ten dates throughout Europe.

The Hard Sell Tour features DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist on 8 turntables, 4 mixers and 2 effects pedals, and showcases the third installment in their mix series which began with the now infamous "Brainfreeze" and "Product Placement" recordings.

See here for dates, and book early to avoid disappointment.

Kid Koala will be warming up the night with his own blend of record scratching, thumb wrestling and robot dance competitions!

Following this run, Kid Koala will be touring France before returning to the studio to complete his next graphic novel and soundtrack.So show up early! You won't want to miss any part of this legendary event!

Just came across this interview with the Heliocentrics band, also aired on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Show from Radio 1/BBC on 7th Februray 2007. The Heliocentrics album was one of my faourite albums from last year. Amazing beats in a psycadelic style....

Quote from Stones Throw's Artist Website...."A listen to a song or two reveals no small influence from the funk universe of James Brown. But there's also the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra's music. The cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone. The sublime fusion of David Axelrod. But the Heliocentrics' music isn't retro. It's brand new. And it's timeless. They have well-placed fans in the likes of Madlib (Catto was featured on his Shades of Blue album and on various Yesterdays New Quintet releases) and DJ Shadow (the band backed him on the song “This Time I’m Gonna Do It My Way” from his The Outsider album), who will tell you that this band is really the next shit but that they have the consistency and musicianship that seems to have been lost somewhere in the analog to digital shuffle over the past thirty years".

Here's the first of three video's of Mantronix......For me, back in the day MC Tee was the don.... and along with Curtis Mantronix whose beat programming was amazing....they released three must have albums of old skool hip hop.

Discogs says...."Early years – 1984-1988In 1984, while working as the in-store DJ for Downtown Records in Manhattan, Kurtis Mantronik, a Jamaican-Canadian émigré, met MC Tee, a Haitian-born, Flatbush, Brooklyn-based rapper (and regular record store customer).[1][2] The duo soon made a demo, "Fresh Is The Word," and eventually signed with William Socolov's Sleeping Bag Records.

Mantronix's debut single, "Fresh Is the Word," was a club hit in 1985, reaching #16 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, and was featured on Mantronix: The Album which was released the same year.

Mantronix's efforts on Mantronix: The Album and its effect on early hip hop and electronic music is perhaps best summed up by music critic Omar Willey's observation in 2000:

“Featuring "Fresh Is the Word" and the new tracks "Bassline" and "Electro Mega-Mix," Mantronix defined the new sound of electro-funk. Mantronik used a polyrhythmic style, similar to West African log drumming, but instead of acoustic drums, the rhythm would be carried by the combination of electronic drums, synthesizer, vocoder and/or synthesized voice over a bass line completely played on the synth. No samples of James Brown here. This was truly electronic music: spare, funky and immensely danceable, an homage and simultaneous extension of old-school hip hop's electronic template that had started with "Planet Rock" in 1982. The feeling of Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Kraftwerk and Neu all combined in Mantronik's music. It was a neat tie between old-school and new jack, and Mantronix had the field to themselves.[3] ”

The influence of Mantronix: The Album is seen among other artists through the sampling of "Needle To The Groove" by Beck in the single "Where It's At" from the 1996 album, Odelay ("we've got two turntables and a microphone..."), as well as, "Fresh Is The Word" by the Beastie Boys in the single "Jimmy James" from the 1992 album, Check Your Head ("for all the Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and the White people too...")

Mantronix's second album, Music Madness, was released in 1986. While MC Tee's rhyming style on the album continued in the traditional b-boy fashion of the times, Mantronik's club-oriented production and mixing in Music Madness tended to attract more electronic dance music and electro funk aficionados than hardcore hip-hop fans.[4] During this period, while Mantronix was signed to Sleeping Bag Records, Mantronik was employed by the label in their A&R Department, while also producing other artists and groups, including Just-Ice, T La Rock, KRS-One, Nocera, and Joyce Sims.

Mantronix signed with Capitol Records in 1987, in what was one of the first 7-figure deals for a hip-hop group, and released In Full Effect in 1988, which was the first album to be mastered from DAT instead of reel-to-reel tape. In Full Effect continued in and expanded on the hip-hop/electro funk/dance music vein of its predecessor, eventually reaching #18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Mantronix's highest showing for an album.[5] In Full Effect marked the last Mantronix album with rapper MC Tee, who left the group to enlist in the United States Air Force."

Here's a very dope performance of Pure Righteousness on Night Music with DJ Cee Just on the wheels, and Lakim coming correct on the mic. Not sure who the dancer is but he definitely provides some humorous running mans, shit who wasn't doing the running man in 89? Word.

Monday, 4 February 2008

Thought I should remind anybody who thinks Hip Hop/Rap started with Dr Dre or Kanye West.........Back in 1983, I came accross a cassette being sold in a local record shop. It caught my eye and next....my ear.....WOW, I had never heard anything like it !!!!!!.....so for all of you who have never heard this genre busting, futuristic blueprint for modern dance music today, he is a posting of all 33 Streetsound's Electro Albums...and some other classic old school albums.

This is what the D.E.F. Momentum BLOG says "Streetsounds was part of the UK Streetwave stable of labels created by Morgan Khan. A Hong Kong-born Indian who grew up in London, Khan had worked in the UK record industry since the mid 1970's, working for such names as PRT Distribution (a division of Pye Records) and R&B Records, for whom at the time Imagination were the up and coming stars of the day.

Khan founded the independent Streetwave record label during 1981 to specialise in releasing Electro and Hi-NRG releases. Within a year of creation, Streetwave began the Streetsounds series of albums; compilations created from some of the hottest 12" imports of the day. These releases made available a selection of the most contemporary dance floor hits within the financial reach of those wanting to hear the freshest sounds. In the early 80's a 12" single was priced around £2 and you would pay over £4 for an import 12". The Streetsounds series offered usually 8 to 12 full-length 12" mixes for under a fiver. Understandably, the Streetsounds series was met with considerable enthusiasm and, some might say, mighty relief.

This series would run for over 6 years and contain over 50 albums. By far the most coveted of the Streetsounds releases were the Electro series. These albums introduced the UK to the developing hip-hop scene from America - a stroke of genius that brought electro and early hip hop from the underground to the UK high street and, one could argue, helped in the creation of the UK's hip hop scene.

The Electro series ran for a total of 27 albums (and one box set) from 1982 to 1988. The albums were initially labeled"Streetsounds Electro" with the title morphing into "Streetsounds Hip Hop" after release 12 in 1986.

All of the albums were competently mixed by a series of the best remixers of the day - predominately from the UK. A large proportion of the mixes on the early releases were completed by Mastermind, a London-based hip-hop sound system from the early 80s. Headed by "Herbie The Mastermind" (aka Herbie Laidley) the team also featured Kiss FM radio DJ's Dave VJ and Max LX who were also members of UK electro outfit Hard Rock Soul Movement, responsible for the massive "Double Def Fresh" release."

Long overdue and unbelievable new EP from one of the UK's most talented and overlooked producers, Mark Pritchard. Having ditched the Harmonic 33 guise, he returns after a few Troubleman releases and some even under his birth name with the more Detroit sounding Harmonic 313.

Track names are coded as colours, with the code breaker present on the spine of the EP. This release is limited to 2000 copies only......get it while you can !!

Warp Records says......"Mark Pritchard's latest incarnation is Harmonic 313. The EP is super fresh hip hop speed techno, offbeat drums, lots of bass, it simultaneously encapsulates the sound of J Dilla and Detroit techno in a style which you could describe as Hi-Tech Funk. The EP is limited and there is a fun element to the artwork, you find out the track titles via a secret code on the artwork in conjunction with the new site Harmonic 313 site, plus when you crack the code, you'll get a free mp3 of a non-single track."

Boomkat Records....."In short - SICK stuff. Across the 5 "problems" different variations on the theme are explored, ranging from the reverberating sublow of "Problem 3" to the shimmering strings and keys of "Problem 4", and the closing speak and spell solo on "Problem 5". Forever inventive and utterly impressive - "EP1" is an absolute MUST for followers of Pritchard and blunted Detroit Hip Hop alike. ESSENTIAL PURCHASE"Fat City records......"This has to be the best thing to come out this year already, check.. wait, check all the tracks, as there's a puzzle on there to work out what they're called, so we ain't gonna spoil it for ya! Recommended

Phonica Records state......"New 12'' from the Middlewood Sessions boys - a double-a sided single on Wah Wah 45s that shows off the boys´ penchant for a club jazz banger - "Red Waters" - combined with a sublime, string laiden, timeless vocal cut - "Astro Blue". 2008 looks like being a big year for these chaps as they´re surely poised to take the next steps in their mission to bring cinematic jazz to discerning music lovers"

Gilles Peterson 'In The House' Exclusive EP3 (Defected)

Phonica Records states.....The third and final EP of utterly exclusive tracks and remixes comissioned solely for Gilles Peterson's 'In The House' compilation. Features tracks from Kings Of Tomorrow, Zed Bias, Season & Sygaire and an exclusive house mix from Carl Craig of Tribe's 'Livin' In A New Day' that didn't come out on the Planet E release!

For me, its all about the Carl Craig of Tribe's 'Livin' In A New Day'......amazing.

Nigeria 1970. Highlife, Afro-beat, Rock, Jazz & Native Blues rub shoulders and are turned out at an unprecedented level. New styles meet old styles. Newfound national confidence follows the near break-up of the nation following the Biafran war. New fashions meet old fashions, creating new fusions. Soundway present this 2x Double LP of original and previously un-reissued tracks from the time complete with extensive liner notes, rare photos and cover art.

'A magical collection of Nigerian recordings from the 70s' ***** (Observer Music Monthly)

'A deep selection that yields more with each listen, this is recommended for aficionados and passing fans alike' **** (Songlines magazine) 'Nigeria Special is an aural and design classic' ***** (Mojo)

New York's finest Nickodemus meets Quantic in San Juan for 3 days of music making with Tempo & The Candela Allstars. Here is the result. Released and cultivated by Pablo Rodriguez of Candela Records and Candela Bar.

Fat City Records say..... "Originally released back in 2005, Tru Thoughts have managed to re-release it which is good news because as well as being a scorching club track it has been in high demand since being used on Apple's I Pod TV adverts.Quantic goes latin with the this scortching number. The young super producer and musician Quantic teams up with Nickodemus and Tempo and the Candela Allstars to produce this track. Recorded in Puerto Rica, this is dancefloor dynamite".

"Another sampler from the recent "Modern Funk" compilation, mapping the biggest players of 2007 in the funk world. Retaining the style and ethics of original funk compositions, but giving them a new millennial twist, these 2 tracks should see some action on the dancefloor. Kicking things off is living legend Spanky Wilson is responsible for the anthemic cover of "Sunshine Of Your Love" - an end of night classic at clubs the world over. Hooking up with the closest contender to claim James Brown´s crown as "the hardest working man in show-business" - Mr Will Holland (aka Quantic), this is one of the finest examples of old meeting new and it works a treat! On the flip, a relative newcomer to the funk scene, France´s Aeon Seven gives us a drum heavy workout with some fat horns and fresh Hammond thrown into the mix". Phonica Records

Philip COHRAN & THE ARTISTIC HERMITAGE ENSEMBLE - The Malcolm X MemorialDusty groove "A brilliant tribute to the late Malcolm X -- served up by Chicago's legendary Artistic Heritage Ensemble! The record's got an even farther-reaching sound than the group's self-titled effort -- a flowing style that unfolds as their tribute to Malcolm rolls on -- starting spare and earthy at first, then picking up a fuller, prouder, much more righteous groove as things really get going! As before, there's plenty of heavy percussion at the bottom of most tracks -- topped by complicated horn passages that often verge on the exotic -- and which have a tremendously captivating sound. The ensemble's led by the great Phil Cohran, who played with Sun Ra for a bit, and also plays cornet on the record -- the rest of the group includes Charles Williams, Don Myrick, Louis Satterfield, Pete Cosey, Henry Gibson, Willie Woods, and Aaron Dodd -- a lineup of players who also worked with Sun Ra, The Pharoahs, and Earth Wind & Fire! The LP's a suite of 4 tracks dedicated to Malcolm X, each capturing a period of his life, "Malcolm Little", "Detroit Red", "Malcolm X", and "El Hajj Malik El Shabazz".

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